Post Hoc
by Bookworm85
Summary: Missing scene in the episode 6x13 Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc. Warning for torture.


Post Hoc

"I don't like doing this. You won't like it either," Agent Gropius said. He picked up a cloth from the cart and leaned towards Bug. "This is your last chance."

Bug looked up at the man, begging him with his eyes to believe him. "I don't know anything," he said hoarsely, repeating the line that he had said several times since being detained. If the agent didn't believe him, there was nothing more he could say to prove his innocence.

Agent Gropius sighed. "So that's how it's going to be. Stand up." When Bug didn't immediately comply, the two agents who had wheeled in the cart dragged him up from the chair. One agent handcuffed the prisoner's wrists behind his back.

"Wait," Bug said desperately. "I didn't do anything. You can't do this to-"

"The only way to stop this is by giving me the information I need," Agent Gropius interrupted and set the cloth back on the cart. "Get him on the table."

The first agent pushed him so his back was on the table. The other agent lifted the prisoner's legs. For a few seconds, Bug was balanced precariously between the table and the man's arms. Then the second agent swung Bug's legs onto the table. Bug was facing the clock, the door behind his head and to the right. He turned his head to look at the cart. Agent Gropius picked up some ropes that Bug hadn't seen earlier and handed them to the other agents. Scared, Dr. Vijay tried to sit up, but Agent Gropius pushed down on the medical examiner's chest. Agent Two draped the rope over Bug's chest and around the tabletop, then tied it, preventing Bug from sitting up even when Agent Gropius released his hold. Agent One was at the other end of the table, tying one end of the rope around Bug's ankle.

'This isn't right. This can't be happening,' Bug thought. He turned his head to look at the other wall where the giant American flag was hanging. 'Someone will stop this.' He took a deep breath and yelled, "Help! Somebody help!"

"This is a soundproof room," Agent Gropius said. "No one can hear you." He couldn't have sounded creepier if he had tried. Dr. Vijay instinctively tried to sit up to get away and panicked when he couldn't. He kicked out, almost catching Agent One in the face.

"I need some help over here," the agent said tersely, holding Bug's right leg down. Agent Two quickly moved to assist. Between the two of them, they managed to get Bug's ankles tied to the table legs. Dr. Vijay tried not to hyperventilate when he realized how helpless he was to prevent these men from hurting him.

"Please," Dr. Vijay said, past feeling shame for begging. If it would prevent what was coming next from happening, he would beg as much as Gropius wanted. The agent ignored him, instead fiddling with the items on the cart. Dr. Vijay forced himself to take deep breaths. He was going to get through this, he told his thudding heart. His friends would be looking for him. Dr. Macy knew people, important people. If Bug stayed calm, he could make it until someone saved him.

Gropius wet the cloth, folded it in half, and stretched over the lower half of Bug's face, covering the man's mouth and nose. Fear almost overtook him again, but Bug picked a ceiling tile to stare at. He focused on that tile like it was the most important thing in the world. He managed to center himself, and he took a deep breath. He held it as Gropius began pouring the water on his face.

The ME didn't know how long he held his breath. He could tell you the record for the longest someone held their breath and statistics on survival rates based on how long the brain went without oxygen. Bug didn't count the seconds he held out, but when his lungs started burning from oxygen deprivation, he begged his body to hold out just a little longer. His body gave up before Gropius did. Bug exhaled stale air and inhaled cool liquid, that ironically burned worse. He tried to cough it out, but the water kept coming. After a short eternity of suffocating, Gropius set the water down and removed the cloth. "Do you have anything to say?" the agent asked. Rude words came to mind, but Bug's priority was breathing and he didn't have any energy to spare for insults.

"No?" the agent asked, then replaced the cloth. Bug finally regained enough air to be able to plead with the other man to stop, but wisely used those seconds instead to take another deep breath. The second time was just as bad as the first. Then the third time. Bug lost count of how many times he was subjected to the water torture. Unable to beg the agent to stop, he mentally begged his body to hold on, God to stop this, his friends to find him. He hurt, he just wanted it to stop, but when he turned his pleading eyes towards his captor, the other man avoided his eyes.

Finally a reprieve came in the form of a knock on the door. Gropius set the water down and went to answer it. Bug finished coughing and turned his head. The cloth was still on his face, so turning his head to the side helped him breathe better. From this angle, he could see Gropius at the door, but not the person on the other side. The agent didn't have a pleased expression as he listened to the unseen man. Bug's heart leapt with hope when he heard Dr. Macy's name and the word 'evidence.' He prayed fervently that this would mean his freedom. Gropius closed the door and walked back to Bug's side. The agent took the cloth off Bug's face, and the ME almost smiled with relief. "I'll be back and I'll expect answers, or this will continue," Gropius threatened, crushing Dr. Vijay's hopes. Gropius nodded to the other agents, and all three men walked out of the room. Bug could hear the door lock behind him.

Dr. Vijay raised his head a fraction to look at the clock. Forty five minutes. If they could hurt him this much in less than an hour, in what condition would he be if they continued overnight? What if Gropius followed through with his threat and sent him to Guantanamo? He tried to curl into a ball, but the restraints held him tight. He closed his eyes and cried.

He woke with his heart pounding in terror when the door opened. Bug couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep in this place, but fear and exhaustion had worn him out. He looked at the clock to see that a little over an hour had passed since the agents had left. His gaze returned to Gropius, who had entered the room alone. A faint glimmer of hope still lived inside him that he would be released. When the agent picked up the cloth, the hope died.

"No," Bug moaned. "Please."

"People like you disgust me," Gropius began. "You come and take advantage of all the freedoms we have in this country, while secretly working to undermine us and bring down our way of life. You think you can get what you want through violence and fear, and you don't care if innocent people get hurt."

Dr. Vijay stared at Gropius, but the agent apparently didn't see the irony in his statement. "I'm not-" he started, but was interrupted.

"Tell me where the attack will take place," Gropius said angrily. "Give me names, locations. If you don't tell me, people will die."

"I don't know anyth-" Bug tried again.

"Your friends seem to think you're a good person. Prove them right. Tell me about the attack."

"You're assuming I know! I'm not involved in any attack. I can't tell you what I don't know!" Bug said desperately.

"Then you leave me no choice," Gropius said. He wet the cloth and placed it back on Bug's face. The prisoner turned his head away, but it was futile. There was only so far he could move, and the cloth stuck to his face. "You should have just told me."

Bug couldn't answer because the water was everyone, cutting off oxygen, filling his lungs, drowning him. He was dying. He would die in this place, and his friends would never know what happened to him. Even though Bug had given up, his body kept fighting. His lips stayed tightly pressed together, refusing to allow the water entrance, and his lungs stubbornly forced out any liquid that managed to get inside his body.

Time meant nothing. Minutes or hours could have passed. Bug didn't have the energy to lift his head to look at the clock. It didn't matter anyway. Only the seconds mattered, how many seconds he was forced to hold his breath, how many seconds he was given to cough out the treacherous liquid before it started again.

Neither man heard the knock at first. The knocking repeated, then the door opened. "Agent Gropius?" a woman's voice asked. The agent quickly removed the cloth before going to the door. There was whispering. Bug caught Dr. Macy's name. His heart hurt as hope feebly tried to come back to life. Agent Gropius spared a backwards glance at his prisoner, and then left without a word.

Bug didn't move while the agent was gone. He tried not to think either, because it was too painful to hope again. He flinched when the door opened. Bug looked up at his captor, and a surge of fear raced through him when the other man drew a pocket knife. Agent Gropius said nothing, only cut the bonds around Bug's chest. Then the agent cut the ropes tying down his legs. Bug sat up hesitantly, afraid where this was going. The word 'transfer' appeared unbidden in his mind, and he almost bolted, even knowing that there would be dozens of armed agents between him and the front door. Then Agent Gropius pulled small keys from his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. Dr. Vijay sat on the table, rubbing his wrists while he waited for an explanation. His hands were numb from lying on them.

"It is regrettable that an error was made in your detainment," Agent Gropius said, not making eye contact. Bug noticed that there was no apology, no acceptance of blame, and no mention of the waterboarding. "You are free to go. Your personal effects are at the front desk."

Bug wanted to feel anger at this man who had hurt him. He wanted to yell and demand an apology for what was done to him. Instead, he felt tired. He just wanted to leave and never think about this place again. Agent Gropius opened the door and ushered Bug out. The agent followed him to the front desk, where the desk clerk handed him a paper to sign saying he received his belongings back. Bug signed it with trembling hands, his signature looking nothing like what it normally did. Then the clerk slid his wallet and cell phone across the counter instead of handing them to him. Bug realized that the desk clerk and Agent Gropius had avoided touching him, and neither man had called him by name. "My car," Bug said finally, remembering that it was still at work.

"You can call a cab," Agent Gropius said, still not looking him in the eye. There was an awkward silence as Agent Gropius seemed about to say something, but he changed his mind and walked away. The desk clerk dropped a phone book on the counter, and then turned his chair away from Bug. Homeland Security was done with Dr. Vijay, now they wanted nothing to do with him.

Bug called the cab and went outside. It was dark, and getting chilly. His stomach made an unhappy noise. How long had it been since he had eaten? Breakfast had been a quick granola bar. The lunch he was going to share with Jordan was spilled on the ground next to his car in the parking garage. The cab came and Bug had the cab driver make a quick stop so he could pick up soup for Jordan. When they arrived at Jordan's place, Bug paid the driver and got out of the car, but he paused outside the building. He heard the cab drive off, but he couldn't get himself to move. He was safe now. There was no point in worrying his friends. He didn't need to tell them about what happened, about how terrified he was that he would never go home. He would push it aside, forget about it, completely erase it from his memory. It would be like it never happened.

Bug walked up the steps slowly. He could hear Woody's voice ahead of him. Bug went to the doorway and looked at his friends. "Sorry I'm late."


End file.
